Money, time and opportunity.
That is the short answer.
The slightly longer answer is that we squander pretty much anything
that we can get our hands on. I squandered a great deal of my life
hoping that time would allow me to opt out of boredom and uselessness.
It did, a bit. Mostly, though, I just came to my senses.
Whenever I think about adolescence and childhood in general I think
about squandering time.
Childhood is the time when our responsibilities are less and our free
time is more. It is the one time that worry lacks potency, that
problems loom large only because most problems havenât been discovered
yet. Now, I know not all childhood is like this. But, I have to
believe that at some point, everyone is treated as though they are a
child, and this means that people donât expect them to spend the vast
majority of their time on others. Childhood is selfish. And we
squander that selfishness.
I wish that someone would have told me that I could do anything as a
child and not have to wait until adulthood. I wish someone would have
told me that the free time of a child is not the same as that of an
adult. I know now that the limits on what is possible before you hit
18 are self-imposed and not dictated by laws, the way that most public
institutions would have you believe. Squandering time on non-creative
pursuits is the single greatest regret I have for children. All
children.
